Rome Travel Guide

Tour privato di Ostia Antica.
Solo per intenditori

Augusto, uno dei due gatti guardiani del Colosseo

Under the church of St Joseph, next to the Roman Forum, is the oldest prison of Ancient Rome where famous enemies of the Roman State were strangled or just kept waiting for their trial, including St Peter, St Paul and Vercingetorix King of the Gauls defeated by Julius Ceasar.
The hole you see on the floor was the way in.
According to the cristian tradition, Peter & Paul made water come out from the earth and converted their guardians (Processus & Martinianus) before leaving.

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The Leontocephalus, in the wonderful collection of the Vatican Museums, is hidden behind a corner and invisible to most people, as if to recall the dark places to which it belonged: the Mithraic Mysteries.
It has been associated with Time, which with its voracity tears apart the days, flies away (seen the little wings?), continually renewing Nature like a snake that changes its skin.
The perfect place to talk about Mithraism is Ostia Antica, the ancient port of Rome and, above all, a multi-religious community where archeologists have found 17 mithraeums

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The first time I can recall going inside, as a teenager in the early 90's, the Colosseum was free of charge, almost empty and full of cats. Then mass tourism exploded and all the feline community was moved to another site. Only one still lived as a 'guardian' inside the symbol of the city: Nerina. You could see her sneaking in and out of the ruins, sleeping on an ancient column and get close as a star of Hollywood on the Tiber.
RIP 🖤

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